Peak performance
9/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Sept. 4, 2003
By Jay Reddick
The Wake Forest field hockey team finished climbing the mountain last season. This year, the Deacons find out if they fall off the peak, or if they can rewrite the metaphor and find a plateau up there at the summit.
In November, coach Jennifer Averill's squad became the first WFU women's team to win a national championship, but as the Deacons (who started preseason drills in early August) will tell you, be careful about throwing around words like "defending champions."
"One of my seniors put it eloquently," Averill said. "2002 was a championship year, and that's over. Nobody can take that away from us, and it's not a title we're defending, because we've already done it. In 2003, we haven't won anything yet. Our challenge is, we put ourselves in a position to go after it. The trophy didn't change our appetite."
The Deacons who will go after it in 2003 are loaded. Twelve of last season's 17 letter-winners will defend...er, vie for ACC and NCAA honors once again.
The team's success begins in the back, where Katie Ridd returns for her senior season. The third-year starter enjoyed an All-American campaign in which she allowed only 0.73 goals per game for the 20-2 Deacons in 2002, including a scoreless NCAA tournament.
Highly touted freshman Kristina Gagliardi will push Ridd in practice, but make no mistake -- this is Ridd's team.
"Ridd is the best college goalkeeper in the country," Averill said. "The advancement of her play over the last three years has been astounding. She has a very unique style, and she makes saves out of nowhere that make me say, 'How did she stop that?' But she also has a great supporting cast in front of her."
Two of the team's most experienced leaders play on the back line.
Lucy Shaw was an acknowledged go-to player with the skill to start the Deacons attack already last season, and now she adds the senior tag, meaning her leadership will be even more crucial. Claire Laubach is "just" a junior but has been a starter since her third game in Winston-Salem and will return as one of the team's most important stoppers.
Sophomore Martha Ferger, along with freshman Jamie Whitten, a solid communicator who played on the U-16 national team as a high schooler, will vie for spots in the backfield.
Much of the scoring punch that led the Deacons to 83 goals in 22 games last season returns to the forward and midfield spots.
Junior Kelly Dostal, the team's leading scorer with 16 goals and 41 points, will be counted on to replicate those numbers at forward. Kelly Doton, the team's assist leader with 13, returns for her senior season in the midfield.
Sophomore Maeke Boreel, the surprise of last season with 12 goals, also returns. Her considerable height (5-10) makes her a threat on offense and defense. Senior Emily Ruth and sophomore Ariel Meyers are back after getting double figures in points last year, and many of last year's reserves -- senior Katie Ackerman, junior Claire Lawhon, sophomore Kelly Wood -- will be asked to do more.
Wake Forest will also add four freshmen up front. Haley and Tracey Scott, identical twins from Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., have impressed Averill with their speed, while forward Kristin Harshman will add a solid hockey mind and Lauren Crandall will bring a needed versatility.
But although the youngsters will certainly make contributions to the Deacons' success in 2003, it's the upperclassmen who will make this team truly special.
"The seniors have been to three successive Final Fours, so that experience really pays off," Averill said. "But it's the experience of building a team, bouncing back from getting waxed in a couple of games, that really helps. The upperclassmen are really accountable for how this team plays; they command attention and respect, and as a coach, that's really special to see."
Averill makes no promises of a repeat performance at the NCAA Final Four in Amherst, Mass. She only knows the Deacons will be contenders.
"We're a great team," Averill said. "We're young, but we'll do everything we possibly can and the future will take care of itself."